Labeling machine



Dec. 1, 1942. A, CRAIG 51 AL I 2,303,525

LABELIM MACHINE Filed July 16, 1941 3-Sheets- Sheet 1 Hfifara FRHNCIS A. CRHIG. HENRY A. E. vSJ'OBERG.

H 1. maww ATTORNEY Dec. 1, 1942. F. A. CRAIG E TAL 2,303,525

- LABELING MACHINE Fil ed'Ju'ly 16, 1941 3'Sheets-Sheet 2 FRANCIS fl. CRAIG. HENRY A E. Swat-res.

m0 LOW ATTORNEY Dec. 1, 1942.

F. A. CRAIG ETA L LABELING MACHINE Filed July 16, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 rzv'anfors:

' FRANC/fi A. CRAIG Maw-w A-E. 6.7055125.

A'ITORNEY Patented Dec. 1, 1942 LABELING MACHINE Francis A. Craig, Worcester, and Henry A. E. Sjoberg, North Grafton, Mass., assignors to Economic Machinery Company, Worcester, Mass, at corporation'of Massachusetts Application July 16, 1941, Serial No. 402,602

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a machine for applying labels to articles, such as bottles or packages, and particularly to a semi-automatic labeling machine.

A large proportion of the labeling of articles performed by labeling machines is done on semiautomatic machines in which the bottle or other article is placed on and removed from the machine manually with the remaining operations performed automatically by the machine. One type of labeling machine of this character is shown by the Holm Patent No. 2,257,055, dated September 23, 1941; this type of machine is driven through a one-revolution clutch which causes stoppage of the machine after each labeling operation. One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a positive stop for the machine, together with locking means to obtain this stoppage at a predetermined point in the cycle and to prevent either forward or reverse movement of the machine inadvertently from this predetermined point.

Labeling machines are frequently installed where several sizes and types of articles are to be labeled with different sizes and types of labels.

The machine of the aforesaid Holm patent is adapted for universal labeling of this type, in that by changing the bottle support, the wiper or pressure pad, and the label carrier or transfer pad, the machine is adapted for applying substantially any size and shape of label to substantially any shape or dimension of package. An object of the present invention is to provide for bringing the machine to rest at such a point in the machine operation that these parts are readily accessible for easy replacement by a similar part, or for exchange in substituting parts adapted for a different size or type of article to be labeled.

When a labeling machine has been set up for labeling a series of articles, all of a predetermined dimension, the successively labeled articles frequently vary somewhat in dimension and by reason of this variation might cause injury to the machine, especially where the article is sufficiently over size to cause the machine to jam. A further feature of the invention resides in so mounting the article support that injury to the machine is prevented should an over-size article he placed on the support. The invention also contemplates additional resilient mounting of the article support so that there is a resilient pressure between the article and the label car ried by the transfer pad while the article is in label-receiving position.

In certain types of labeling machines, such as that shown by the aforesaid Holm patent, the labels are removed one by-one from the stack of labels by a picker mechanism which in many instances is suction controlled. Where the label is picked by" suctionit has be'en'found that the rapid withdrawal of the outermost'label frequent- 13' causes a second or third label'to'be moved therewith. A further featured the invention resides inso mountingthe'pick'er and so con trolling the suction applied thereto'that' the labels are picked one byone'fro'm the'stack without the interposition of any auxiliary label separating means cooperating with the stack'of labels. Other and flllthenobjects' and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear'from the following" detailed description taken in connec tion with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. l is a side'el'evatio'n' of a labeling machine embodying "the invention, with parts broken away.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the machine of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the operative parts of the machine when the latter is at rest.

Fig; 4 is a plan view of a labelholder andthe' associated picker. M

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of'the latch for stop ping the machine.

Withreference to the drawings, the machine has spaced uprights 'i in which is jourrialled' the main drive shaft 2 carrying "a plurality of cams not shown for controlling the several machine movements. The shaft is drivenfromany suitable source of power through a onerevoluti'o'n' clutch, not shown, of ordinary'type, the same being made operable, as is usual in'machines of nicate through an'interior chamber and a flexible hose connection '11 with a suitable valve mecha nism by which to control the application of suc tion to and the release of suction from the carrier 3,

The label is held against the underside The labels are arranged in a stack S supported in a slantwise position by a holder 8 mounted on a bracket 9 attached to one of the side members I. A hollow arm I!) is mounted for rocking movement on a pin II on the bracket 9 and this arm constitutes a suction picker for the removal of the labels, one by one, from the stack, and the transfer of these labels into a position beneath the plane of reciprocation of the label carrier or transfer pad 3, so that the labels may be picked up by the carrier. Suitable provision is made for directing suction to the picker l0, as by means of a suction pump, not shown, and a valve, not shown, which provides communication between the suction openings ID in the picker and the pump through a suitable flexible hose.

The suction picker is rocked from the full line position of Fig. 2 into a substantially horizontal position, with the end of the picker beneath the plane of the carrier movement through a suitable cam on the main drive shaft. For the purpose of the present application it will be sufficient to note that a depending rod I3 connected to a projecting arm 14 on the picker l causes movement of the picker through a suitable connection to the actuating cam. The carrier 3 for the labels is suitably reciprocated by any suitable driving means which provides for a movement of the carrier in a rearwardly direction to pass the label over the gumming mechanism and then forwardly into a position in which the label carrier is directly over the vertically movable article supporting bracket I5;

The gumming mechanism is not of itself a feature of the present invention and may be of any suitable character. In the arrangement shown, a gum box IE has positioned therein a pair of parallel adhesive applying rollers H. The gum box is normally mounted on a rocking plate I8 so that the rolls are alternately positioned in the same horizontal plane as the underside of the label carrier for the application of adhesive to the underside of a label as the carrier is moved backward and forward over the rolls.

Thebottle B, or other article to be labeled, is positioned on the bracket l5 on the upper end of a vertically movable support l9, and this support is reciprocated in timed relation to the other movements of the machine from'a cam of the main drive shaft. To prevent damage to the machine in the event that the bottle or other article is improperly positioned on the support, or in the event that the bottle is larger than usual, the article support is resiliently mounted. As shown, an oscillatory lever 20 actuated from a cam, not shown, on the shaft 2, is connected to the article support by a rod 2| which is slidable within a part of the article support. To the lower end of the rod 2| is connected a C-shaped member 22,-

in the upper end of which the rod is slidable with the lower end of the member connected to the lever. Centrally of the rod is a fixed collar 2| and above the collar, between the latter and the article support, is a relatively heavy coil spring 23. Below the collar,'between it and the C- shaped member, is a somewhat lighter coil spring 24, so that as the lever moves upwardly this lower spring 24 is compressed first. The compression of this lower spring is limited by a bumper element 25 positioned within the C-shaped member and engageable with the end of the rod.

The machine is normally brought to rest after each labeling operation in such a position that, as shown in Fig. 3, the label carrier or transfer pad 3 is between the gumming apparatus and the article support l5 so that removal of the gumming apparatus from the machine, or the substitution of one article support for another, is comparatively simple, since the transfer pad is entirely out of the way. The latter is nevertheless readily accessible from the front of the machine.

Not only is replacement of the article support possible when the machine comes to rest in the position of Fig. 3; it is also possible to exchange one pressure pad for another or to adjust the position of the transfer pad as is frequently necessary in changing from one type of label or article to another. Obviously the parts of the machinethat might require adjustment or replacement are all readily accessible when the parts are located as shown in Fig. 3.

In order to insure stoppage of the machine in this particular position, the following mechanism is provided: The main drive shaft 2 has mounted on one end thereof a disk 26, Fig. 5, to the periphery of which is secured a block 21. A

latch 28 associated with the aforesaid foot treadle.

38 is pivoted on a stud 29 in one of the uprights I and has a surface 30 engageable with an opposed surface 3| on the block 21. Since the drive shaft 2 performs one complete revolution for each cycle of the machine, the block 21 is so positioned that the surfaces 30 and 3| will come in contact when the machine parts are in the position of Fig. 3. To hold the. machine parts in this position-and to prevent movement of the machine parts inadvertently from the position of Fig. 3, a second latch 32 is pivoted on a pin 33 on the main latch 28 and has a tongue 34 .engageable in a notch 35 in the block 21. A coil spring 36 urges the latch 32 resiliently into the locking positionof Fig. 5 and a stop 31 of the main latch prevents turning of the latch beyond the desired position under the action of the spring 36. Thus, when the surfaces 30 and 3| move into engagement, the tongue 34 of the latch I 32 engages in the notch 35 and any further movement of the main shaft, either forwardly or rearwardly, isprevented until the main latch 28 is disengaged.

The main latch 28 is adapted to be controlled by the clutch-actuating treadle 38 at the front of the machinathis treadle being shown as an integral part of a lever 39' suitably pivoted on a stud 40. A rod 4| provides a connection between the lever 39 and the main latch 28 so that pressure on-the treadle to engage the machine clutch will elevate the main latch and permit the machine to operatethrough the influence of the driving motor and one revolution clutch, neither of which is shown. v

The support or holder 8 for the stack of labels preferably comprises opposed brackets 42, each of which supports one or more fingers 43 having inturned ends 43'-engaging with the end of the stack S of labels. The fingers engage with opposite side edges of the labels, and corresponding fingers 44, forming a part of the holder, engage the lower or underside of the stack of labels and support the labels in theproper position for engagement by the suction picker.

It will be noted, as shown in Fig. 2, that the article bracket [5 is removably mounted, that the pressure wiper 45 is also removably mounted, and that the transfer pad is mounted for adjustment through the use'of a clamping nut 46 so that the interchange of parts is made comparatively easyrby bringing the machine to rest in the position shown. All of these removable parts may readily be re laced or removed without changing the position of the several parts. Moreover, the entire gum box is intended to be removed from the machine as a unit and the removal of this box is made possible without any difficulty by having the machine brought to rest with the transfer pad forwardly and out of the way of the gum box, as shown.

In the operation of the machine, with the parts in the position of Fig. 3, which is the normal rest position of the parts, the transfer pad moves first to the right into a position directly above the bottle. When in this position the article support moves upwardly to press the bottle against the label and in doing so compresses to some degree the lower coil spring 24. Should the bottle be improperly placed on the support, or should the bottle be over-size, the spring 2 1 will be compressed to its limit, bringing the rod 2! into engagement with the bumper element 25 and thereafter the heavier coil spring 23 permits further relative movement between the article support and its actuating element if such additional movement is necessary. The article support then moves downwardly to its original position.

After the bottle, with the label placed thereon, has been withdrawn from engagement with the transfer pad, the latter moves rearwardly (to the left, Fig. 3) to the position of Fig. 3, where the subsequent label held by the picker is transferred to or picked up by the transfer pad. Obviously, at this time the suction within the picker is released and suction is applied to the transfer pad. With the new or subsequent label affixed to the transfer pad, the latter again moves rear- Wardly over the gumming rolls and forwardly into the rest position of Fig. 3, where the machine is brought to rest by the action of the cooperating latches above described.

During the rearward and forward movement of the transfer pad, for depositing the label on the bottle, the pressure pad 45, which is positioned above the article support, moves downwardly to engage with the label and assure a positive attachment of the label over its entire area.

During the time that the transfer pad is moving from the position of Fig. 3 forwardly to place the gum label on the bottle, the suction picker rocks downwardly into the dotted position 'of Fig. 3 and carries therewith the subsequent label which has just previously been removed from the stack.

In the movement of the picker upwardly into the position of Fig. 2 for engagement with the endmost label of the stack for the purpose of transferring this label downwardly to be picked up by the transfer pad, the suction control valve, not shown, operates to apply suction to the picker while the latter is still spaced away slightly from the endmost label, as in the position of Fig. 4. The action of the supporting fingers for the stack of labels is such that as the outermost label is pulled away from the end of the stack of labels, the following label tends to be somewhat distorted at the center thereof, as indicated, and is therefore in a position to engage with the face of the suction picker before the latter is moved entirely into contact with the end of the stack of labels. Thus the endmost label L as it is pulled out from the stack, causes the second label L to assume approximately the curved position shown, in readiness to be Pulled against the suction picker as the latter approaches the stack of labels during its next rocking movement upwardly to pick up the label.

In the event that the label L is not distorted or caused to curve downwardly as the preceding label is withdrawn, the movement of the suction picker is such that after suction is applied to the picker, the latter still continues to advance toward the stack of labels. In this Way, if the outermost label in the stack is not distorted in any way and is in the position of the label L", the suction picker will still engage with, and pick up the label. By this arrangement the transfer of a label to the transfer pad for each oscillation of the suction picker is assured.

It will be noted that, in the arrangement shown, the label engaging face 10" of the picker is concave, Fig. 4, in order to aid in separating the endmost label, engaged thereby, from the subsequent label. When the endmost label is engaged by the picker and caused to assume a somewhat curved form by the action of the suction applied thereto, the next label, which tends to remain flat will separate itself from the label engaged by the picker. This concave face on the picker, together with the feature of applying suction to the picker before it reaches the stack, as described above, assures the removal of only one label at a time from the stack.

We claim:

1. In a labeling machine, an article support, a label support, means for moving one of said supports toward the other for applying a label on the label support to an article, and means for resiliently mounting the article support, said means including two springs of different strength adapted successively to become operative.

2. In a labeling machine, an article support, a label support, means for moving one of said supports toward the other for applying a label on the label support to an article, and means for resiliently mounting the article support, said means including a spring to allow a limited resilient movement, a stop for limiting the action of said spring, and a second spring for allowing a further resilient movement after the stop becomes operative.

FRANCIS A. CRAIG. HENRY A. E. SJ OB RG. 

